Glasgow Caledonian University are sponsors of the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2024 and are sponsoring Trad Music in the Media. We asked them some questions about their experience of sponsoring the Trad Awards. If you would like to come to the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards you can buy tickets here or watch on BBC ALBA from 9pm on Saturday 30th November.
Thanks to Simon McKerrell from Professor of Media and Music for answering these questions.
Why have you chosen to sponsor Na Trads, and what importance does the event hold for your sector?
Na Trads represents an important moment in the life of Scottish traditional music and its public understanding. At Glasgow Caledonian University, we are the leading provider of graduates working in the media and journalism sector in Scotland, and therefore the relationship between traditional music and the media is important for our institution and for our staff and students.
What makes your organisation tick?
Glasgow Caledonian – the largest and leading modern university in Scotland – is a vibrant, values-led university with campuses in the heart of Glasgow and London. With a strong commitment to high quality education and research which supports the communities we serve, our partnerships with employers help students get the careers they dream of and deserve.
With a wide range of professionally accredited courses and links with over 300 industry partners, we have the highest proportion of undergraduate level graduates in highly skilled occupations (82%) compared to other Scottish modern universities – with 91% of our students in employment or further study within fifteen months of graduating (HESA 2023). We are Scotland’s leading provider of Graduate Apprenticeships.
This year we rocketed into the top 40 universities in the UK in the highly regarded Guardian University Guide, were ranked the UK’s 2nd top performing modern university in the inaugural Daily Mail guide, and entered the top 50 UK universities in the highly coveted 2024 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide for the first time. We are the top performing modern University in Scotland in all three guides.
What are you most looking forward to about the Trad Awards or do you have a favourite moment from over the years?
We are looking forward to celebrating the best of this year’s talent in Inverness, and the public and broadcast event that does so much for the creative sector in Scotland.
What would you say to anyone who is considering entering, voting in, watching or attending the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards?
Consider voting for our category–Trad music in the media–and consider the sheer range of people and programming involved in traditional music across Scotland and beyond.
Visit their website: https://www.gcu.ac.uk
Performing at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards are Skipinnish, Julie Fowlis, An Dannsa Dub, Laura Wilkie and Ian Carr, Young Highland Musicians and much more! Buy your tickets here.
